Free Republic

Minutemen At ACLU Meeting for Illegal Aliens in Costa Mesa Due to some excellent recon by Minuteman (name deleted), a group of Minutemen, led by Jim Gilchist, attended a meeting organized by the ACLU to encourage illegal aliens to protest the Mayor Mansoor’s plan to have the city police coordinate with ICE. The meeting was lead by female attorney from the ACLU, Benito Acosta, recently arrested at the Cost Mesa City Council meeting, and John Earl a Huntington Beach “Socialist” who apparently did not get the memo from Stalin that the whole thing did not work out after all. Earl...

Lawsuit says man arrested at January council meeting was assaulted by police, denied free speech. The ACLU on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the city of Costa Mesa over the treatment of a protester who was arrested at a Jan. 3 City Council meeting. The suit was filed by the ACLU of Southern California on behalf of Benito Acosta, a 24-year-old Costa Mesa resident and Orange Coast College student who also uses the name Coyotl Tezcatlipoca. It claims city officials violated Acosta's rights to free speech, equal protection and due process by silencing him and by using force to restrain...

In a Republican county known as a cradle of border enforcement zeal, Costa Mesa has long been celebrated — and maligned — as a city that offered immigrants a generous embrace. SNIP Last year, the city shut down the dayworker center after 17 years. It abolished its human relations committee after 18 years. And as the city now moves to train local police in immigration enforcement — the nation's first municipality to do so — it has become a flashpoint in a national debate. Outsiders have rushed in, hailing or condemning the city's efforts. There are demonstrations at City Hall,...

Group opposed to city's immigration policy announces boycott, which local leaders call futile. A Santa Ana-based immigrant rights group that opposes Costa Mesa's immigration enforcement decision today planned to repeat its call for a boycott of Costa Mesa businesses and for civil disobedience. Local leaders disparaged the boycott plan as divisive and unproductive. Nativo Lopez, a spokesman for Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, first called for the boycott in late January. On Wednesday he announced he'll take the issue to Costa Mesa City Hall, where he planned a press conference for today. Lopez, along with several local labor unions and Latino advocacy...

"Whether posing as protesters or cutting off speeches, OC police clamp down on immigrant-rights activists" Coyotl Tezcalipoca wanted to wrap up his speech with a dramatic flourish, and a police chokehold helped him get there more quickly. On Jan. 3, Tezcalipoca, a 25-year-old from Santa Ana, stood before the Costa Mesa City Council and berated them for approving a motion that would allow the city's police to check on anyone's immigration status. Proponents and other opponents of the ordinance also spoke that night. Most used the full three minutes Mayor Allan Mansoor allowed for public comments. But just a little...

COSTA MESA , Calif. (AP) - Police wrestled with and arrested an immigration rights activist after chaos broke out at a City Council meeting following a debate over immigration law enforcement. The council voted 3-2 vote last month to become the first city in the nation to train some of its officers to enforce immigration laws, which normally is the responsibility of federal authorities. On Tuesday, about 100 people protested the decision while 40 supporters of the plan, including Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist, expressed strong opposition to illegal immigration. Problems began when activist Coyotl Tezcalipoca, 25, refused to stop...